Experiment Guide

Strange Acting Goop

You Will Need:

Cornstarch
Large bowl
Water
Mixing spoon

What To Do:

Put one cup of cornstarch into the bowl.
Add 1/2 cup of water.
Mix well.
Slowly dip your finger into the gooey mixture. Grab some in your hand and pour it back into the bowl. Now, try slapping it hard with your hand or a heavy spoon. What happens? Next, grab some in your hand again and squeeze. What happens now?

What This Means:
The strange acting goop allows us to learn about molecules. A molecule is one of the basic units of matter. It is the smallest particle into which a substance can be divided and still have the chemical identity of the original substance. When slapped quickly, the strange acting goop molecules, because they are all tangled up, prevent any splattering. In this way the mixture behaves more like a solid. When you slowly squeeze the mixture in your hand, the goop feels like a solid inside your hand, yet it slides out through your fingers back into the bowl. That's because the mixture now behaves more like a liquid.

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